Outside the Beltway

Finally.

A Federal Appeals Court recently found that chalking the tires of a car parked in a public place is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. It’s not at all clear that this decision is correct.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument in a case involving a World War I Memorial in the form of a cross on public land in Suburban Maryland.

With two more weeks to go, there are plenty of “big” cases still awaiting the release of a decision.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that a police officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he conducted a search on a vehicle parked in a Defendant’s driveway without a search warrant.

The battle over Confederate statues that was resurrected by the violence in Charlottesville is off the front pages, but that doesn’t mean it’s over quite yet.

Bernie Sanders was more aggressive in last night’s debate than he has been in the past, but it’s likely too little, too late.

A big loss for the Tea Party, and a big win for Mitch McConnell,

The Tea Party challenge to Mitch McConnell has not exactly gone as planned.

The Tea Party hit another new polling low, but that really shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

The federal government lost $10.5 billion on the GM bailout. Was this a good investment?

The House wasted a day yesterday, now it’s crunch time.

The “Hastert Rule” isn’t the reason Speaker Boehner isn’t bringing a “clean” CR up for a vote, political survival is.

There seems to be an effort underway to reassess the legacy of our 43rd President.

The Boston Marathon bomber must be tried in a court of law.

For its 60th anniversary, Chevrolet has redesigned the Corvette for 2014. It looks surprisingly like a Corvette.

A graph on public debt making the rounds is being used to misdirect rather than clarify.

Think the auto bailout was a success? Think again.

There’s little evidence that Vice-Presidential picks have as big an impact on elections as pundits seem to think.

Mitt Romney is being rightfully ridiculed for trying to take credit for saving General Motors and Chrysler.

The Phishing Scam Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Was Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler ad a political message, or just a well done commercial?

After having so much influence in 2010, the Tea Party is finding itself adrift in the search for a Republican nominee in 2012.

The Republican candidates for President have apparently forgotten that this guy was their party’s nominee twice.

Understanding the state of the GOP field requires recognizing that President Obama is actually pretty moderate.

My latest for The Atlantic: “Some Reasons Not to Worry About Republican Foreign Policy Craziness”

The tents at Occupy Wall Street are increasingly housing the homeless.

What do this people want? Can’t you read the signs?

Occupy Wall Street is not motivated by envy of the rich or even animus towards banks.

Pondering Tea Party comparisons as well as the “does it matter?” question.

Some on the right are giving Occupy Wall Street and The 99%’ers a second look.

The Tea Party flame was lit by the battle over TARP, but they quickly forgot about those bailouts that supposedly upset them so much.

Is Herman Cain for real, or is this rise int he polls just another boomlet destined to fade away?

Judging them by their own manifesto, the Occupy Wall Street protesters are pretty silly people.

Rick Perry’s vision of capitalism doesn’t exactly comply with what Adam Smith had in mind.

Some Republicans apparently still aren’t satisfied with the 2012 field.

If we cannot adequately diagnose our problems it will be even harder to fix them.

The debt talks in Congress are moribund now, and both sides are working on their own versions of a plan, again.

The two Minnesotans in the Presidential race are starting to trade barbs.

On paper, the U.S. lost $1.3 billion on the Chrysler bankruptcy, but the true cost is far higher than that.

The idea that the GOP can block a debt ceiling vote and benefit politically is, quite simply, absurd.